DoH to release new list of melamine-tested products

MANILA, Oct. 5 (PNA) -– The Department of Health (DoH) announced it will release on Tuesday (Oct. 7) another list of milk and milk products from China tested for melamine contamination.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday said the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) personnel is working overtime this weekend to accelerate the testing of more than 200 milk and milk-based products for traces of melamine.

“The tests on products will be faster and smoother now that we already have the reference standards,” he said.

The DOH and BFAD earlier issued a partial list of items which totally banned two milk products -– Greenfood Yili Fresh Milk and Mengniu Drink –- for melamine contamination.

The two products were tested through high-pressure liquid chromatography and showed it contained melamine of more than 1.0 parts per million (ppm).

The list issued also contained the 28 items which health authorities delisted from the banned China products after they were found safe for human consumption.

Duque said the two milk products could have been smuggled into the country. He also urged the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to intensify their guard against entry of such kind of contrabands.

The DoH chief said he will recommend to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), BoC and Chinese embassy officials the filing of appropriate charges against persons involved with the distribution of smuggled milk products.